Aug 18, 2012

Chocolate Wafer Cookies

I bought it when it first came out and have made several of the recipes. One of my favorite recipes in this book is for chocolate wafer cookies. The author wanted to recreate the Famous Chocolate Wafers that are used for ice box cake. These are way better.

The book also includes recipes for graham crackers and ginger snaps (with three types of ginger!) that are shaped just like these chocolate cookies. Last Christmas I made all three for gifts, and got rave reviews. I think nearly everyone bought the book after tasting these cookies.

Last year I visited my sweet friend Kay in Northern California, and we had some time to kill before heading to Oakland Airport, so we visited the Miette Bakery in Jack London Square. Beautiful! Thank you Kay for putting up with my obsession! I picked up these cookies and can honestly say that the recipes recreate the wonderful flavors of the cookies in the bakery.

I also picked up some of these cute sugar flowers.

Chocolate Wafer Cookies

Makes about 24 cookies. Posted with permission from Meg Ray of Miette.
You will need a 3 1/4 inch scalloped cookie cutter to achieve this look, parchment paper, and half-sheet pans or cookie sheets for baking. I also use waxed paper for rolling out the cookies.

To make the cookies

Whisk the flour, cocoa, and salt together in a bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugars, and honey together until fluffy, about four minutes.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, beating each until just combined.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least a half an hour and up to two days. The dough can also be made ahead and frozen for up to two months.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and working quickly, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. I roll the dough out on a piece of wax paper, and then flip it over onto another piece of wax paper and peel off the piece that is now on the top. This makes it easier to pick up the cookies intact to place them on the cookie sheet. Poke a few random holes into the cookies with a cake tester or wooden skewer, and lightly sprinkle with sparkling sugar.

Gather up the scraps, roll them out, and make more cookies. You might have to put the scraps back into the fridge if it's warm in your kitchen.

Bake each sheet of cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until the cookies are firm. Transfer them to a wire rack and let cool completely.